Padres make easy work of Twins on Saturday evening
MINNEAPOLIS (KYMA, KECY) - The San Diego Padres defeated the Minnesota Twins 12-3 on Saturday night at Target Field, evening the series ahead of Sunday's finale.
Nick Pivetta started for the Padres and delivered another strong performance. He improved to 13–4 on the season, allowing just one run while striking out eight over six innings. Taj Bradley took the loss for Minnesota, giving up three runs across five and a third innings.
The game remained scoreless through five innings before Manny Machado opened the scoring with an RBI single in the sixth. Gavin Sheets and Jake Cronenworth added key hits to extend the lead. Cronenworth drove in two runs to put San Diego ahead 3–1.
The Padres broke the game open in the seventh inning when Elias DÃaz hit a three-run home run, his second of the series. Ramón Laureano followed with a solo shot, and the Padres continued to add runs in the eighth and ninth innings.
In total, San Diego tallied 12 runs on 15 hits. Machado reached a career milestone with his 1,100th RBI. DÃaz finished the night with two home runs and three RBIs.
With the win, the Padres moved to 74-61 on the season and are 1.5 games back of the Dodgers in the National League West Division. The Twins fell to 67-68. The two teams will meet again Sunday afternoon to decide the three-game series.
